Netherlands Masters Fellowship Program for Developing Countries

Brief description:

The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) are demand-driven fellowship programmes designed to promote capacity building within organizations in 61 developing countries by providing training and education to their mid-career staff members. The NFP is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the development cooperation budget.

The scholarships allow candidates to receive a postgraduate education and to earn a Dutch Master of Arts degree, a Master of Science degree, or a Professional Master’s degree.

Host Institution(s):

Dutch Universities and academic institutions.

Field(s) of study:

The scholarship covers many fields of study including: Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries; Architecture and Town Planning,  Arts and Humanities; Business Administration and Management; Education; Engineering; Environmental Science; Fine and Applied Arts; Law; Mass Communication and Information Science; Mathematics and Computer Science; Medical and Health Science; Natural Science; Tourism and Leisure; Social and Behavioral Science; and Transport and Communications. Download the NFP brochure including the course list (PDF, 1.5 MB)

Target group:

Students from 61 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe:

Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia,  Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Macedonia, Mali, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippine, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka,  Sudan, South Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania,  Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam,  Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Half of the available fellowships should be awarded to female candidates and the other half should be spent on candidates from sub-Saharan Africa. Apart from this, priority is given to candidates from priority groups and/or from marginalized regions to be defined by the embassies.

Scholarship value/inclusions:

An NFP fellowship is intended to supplement the salary that the fellowship holder should continue to receive (at least partially) during the study period. The allowance is considered to be a contribution towards the cost of living for one person, whether in the Netherlands or in another country. The fellowship can also cover the costs of tuition fees, visas, travel costs, insurance and thesis research.

Eligibility:

A candidate applying for an NFP fellowship for a master’s degree programme must:

•  be a mid-career professional with at least three years’ relevant work experience;
• be a national of, and working and living in one of the developing countries on the NFP country list valid at the time of application (see annex 4);
• be nominated by his or her employer, who pledges to continue paying the candidate’s salary and guarantees the candidate will be able to return to the same or an equivalent position at the end of the fellowship period;
• have been unconditionally admitted by a Dutch institution to one of the master’s degree programmes on the course list 2012-2013. This means that the candidate must have met all the requirements set by the Dutch institution (see 2.2);
• not already have received an NFP master’s degree fellowship;
• not be employed by:

•  a multinational corporation (for instance Shell, Unilever etc.) or
•  a large national and/-or commercial organisation or
•  a bilateral donor organisation (for instance USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid etc.) or
•  multilateral donor organisation, (for instance a UN organisation, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development
Bank, African Development Bank, IADB, etc.) or
•  international NGO’s (for instance  Oxfam, Plan, Care, etc.)

•  have completed and submitted an NFP master’s degree programme fellowship application including all the required documentation before the applicable NFP fellowship application deadline;
•  be employed in an area to which the study will make a relevant contribution;
•   have a clear-cut, functional relationship with a relevant organisation and be in a position to introduce the newly acquired skills and knowledge into that organisation;
•  be available for the entire period of the programme and be physically and mentally able to take part in the entire programme;
•   endorse the objective and the aim of the NFP. The aim of the NFP cannot be reached if the fellowship holder does not return to his or her own country. Nuffic would like to urge fellowship holders to return to their home country upon finishing the course or programme to meet the NFP aim in the most effective way.

Application instructions:

As stated above, to be eligible for an NFP fellowship, candidates need to be admitted to the master’s degree programme for which they would like an NFP fellowship.  Thus, candidates must first apply for admission directly to the Dutch institution that offers the master’s degree programme of their choice.

For 2012-2013, the deadline for fellowship applications is 7 Februrary or 1 May 2012 depending on the course (see the NFP course list for 2012-2013 to know the specific deadline for your chosen course).  The deadline for academic applications is earlier, about 1-2 months earlier than the fellowship applications deadline. Therefore, candidates are strongly advised to start the application procedure for admission as early as possible.

Applications have to be submitted through Scholarships Online (SOL). Through SOL candidates can apply for fellowships online
and they can check the status of an application. Other parties such as the Dutch institutions, the embassies and consulates will use SOL to assess NFP fellowship applications. SOL can be accessed through the official website starting 1 November 2011.

It is important read the NFP  brochure 2012-2013 and visit the official website (link found below) for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship.

Contact information:

For more information, please contact the Netherlands Embassy or Consulate in your home country.